On the Trail of the Space Pirates

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 12

  "Stand by, you space crawlers!" roared Bull Coxine into the microphone,but the loud laughter and singing of the noisily celebrating prisonerscontinued unabated over the intercom's loud-speakers. "Avast there!" hebellowed again. "Stow that noise! Attention! And I want _attention_!"

  Standing on the control deck of his ship, Coxine waited as the mengradually quieted down. No longer wearing the white prison coverall, hewas dressed in a black merchant spaceman's uniform, the snug-fittingjacket and trousers stretching tightly across his huge shoulders. Hewore a black spaceman's cap, and two paralo-ray pistol belts werecrisscrossed over his hips.

  "Now listen to me!" he roared again. "Let's get one thing straight! I'mthe skipper of this ship and the first man that thinks he's smarter thanme, let him speak up!"

  There was a long pause and the big man added with an ominous whisper,"But I warn you, if one of you opens your mouth, you'll take a swim inspace!"

  There was an angry murmur among the prisoners that Coxine heard over theintercom. "Don't think I can't take care of you, the lot of you, one byone or all at once. I cut my milk teeth on mutiny. I know how to startone and I know how to finish one! I needed a crew and that's the onlyreason you're here! Any spaceman that doesn't like the way I run thingsaboard this ship, better keep it to himself, or start swimming back tothe prison asteroid!" He paused. "Well? Are you all with me?"

  There was a chorus of cheers on the intercom and Coxine nodded grimly.

  "All right," he continued, "now that we understand each other, I'll geton with the business. Second-in-command to me will be Gus Wallace._Lieutenant_ Wallace!"

  A roar of approval came over the loud-speaker.

  "Third-in-command--Luther Simms! _Lieutenant_ Simms!"

  There was another roar of approval as the prisoners recognized the namesof the men who had liberated them from the asteroid.

  "Now, we'll handle this ship as if it were any other freighter. Thefollowing men will be in charge of departments!"

  As Coxine read off the list of jobs and the men to handle them, therewere yells of approval and disapproval for favorites and old enemies.When the list of names had been read, he turned away from the intercomand faced his lieutenants, Wallace and Simms.

  "Well, skipper," boasted Wallace, "it looks like we're in businessagain!"

  "Yeah," chimed in Simms. "In three hours we'll be on our own asteroidand we can start planning our first strike!"

  Coxine's eyes narrowed into slits. "Get this, both of you!" he snapped."What I said to those crawlers down below goes for you too. I'm the bossof this outfit and you don't even guess about what we're going to do,until I say so!"

  "But, Bull--!" whined Wallace.

  "Shut up!" roared Coxine. "And when you talk to me, you call mecaptain!"

  Wallace and Simms looked at each other. "O.K., Captain," muttered Simms.

  "Yes, _sir_!" corrected Coxine.

  "Yes, sir," said Simms quickly.

  "That's better," growled the giant spaceman. "Don't get the idea thatjust because you were able to follow orders that it makes you smart.Because it doesn't! It took me two and a half years to get theinformation collected onto these story spools and smuggle them out toyou. Everything, from where to buy this spaceship to getting thelight-key out of the time capsule, was my idea! My brains!"

  "Sure, Captain," said Wallace, "but we took the chances!"

  "Yeah," sneered Coxine. "You took chances! The only chance you took wasin not paying attention to what I told you to do. I gave it all to you.Where to hold up the first freighter passenger, what to take, how tomount the atomic blasters, what code to use in getting through theprison defenses. The whole works! And I did it while sitting on thetoughest Rock in the system. I smuggled it out right under the noses ofthose Solar Guard space crawlers. So forget about being smart, or you'llwind up with that scum below decks!"

  "Yes, sir!" said Wallace.

  "Now get me a course to the asteroid and make it quick. And have somedecent grub sent up to my quarters right away!"

  The big man turned lightly on the balls of his feet and disappearedthrough the hatch. After a moment, Wallace turned to Simms.

  "That big space-crawling bum!" snorted Wallace. "I oughta blast him!"

  "Go ahead!" sneered Simms. "You were the one who wanted to get him offthe Rock, not me!"

  "Aw shut up!" snarled Wallace. He turned to the intercom and beganbarking orders to his new crew.

  * * * * *

  Tom Corbett sat in one corner of a cargo compartment that had beenconverted into sleeping quarters, watching the celebrating prisoners.Someone had broken into the galley stores and mixed a concoction offruit, alcohol, and reactor priming fluid to make a foul-tasting rocketjuice. The men sat about in various stages of undress as they changedfrom the white prison coveralls to the black uniforms of the merchantspaceman, and drank heavily from a huge pot of the liquid.

  One of the men, short and stumpy, but with shoulders like an ape, wasstanding on a table boasting about his strength. He was stripped to thewaist and Tom could see the powerful arms and chest beneath the blackhair that covered his body. As he continued to brag, the prisonerslaughed and jeered, calling him Monkey. The man's face reddened and heoffered to fight anyone in the room. A short, thin man with a hawk nosesitting next to Tom yelled, "Monkey," and then darted behind a bunk. Theman turned and looked angrily at Tom.

  "You there!" the man on the table called, looking at Tom. "You call meMonkey?"

  Tom shook his head. Since the blast-off he had stayed away from the menas much as he could, certain that sooner or later someone wouldchallenge him and discover he wasn't a prisoner. He hoped to remainaboard the ship long enough to plant a signal for the Solar Guard tofollow. Tom felt almost certain they would be heading for Wallace andSimms' hide-out. And so far, the men had been so excited over their newfreedom they hadn't bothered him. He had managed to sit quietly in thecorner of the storage compartment and watch them.

  "I'm talking to _you_!" shouted the hairy man, looking straight at Tom."You called me Monkey and then lied about it! Maybe you're scared, eh?"

  He slipped off the table and advanced toward Tom. The young cadet triedto figure a way out of the threatening fight. He wasn't afraid of theman, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself. And one of thesurest ways of letting Wallace and Simms know he was aboard ship was toget into a fight. He couldn't risk discovery. He had to signal the SolarGuard before he was caught. But how to get around the hairy, drunkencriminal now standing over him?

  Tom looked up and saw that the man would not be put off. He would haveto fight. He took notice of the powerful arms and shoulders, and decidedhis best bet would be to stay away, but glancing around quickly he sawthere wasn't any room to retreat. The other prisoners were crowdingaround, eager to watch the fight. Suddenly his opponent let out ananimal-like roar and jumped to pin him down on the deck.

  The young cadet timed his move perfectly. As the man's body came down onhim, he threw up both legs and caught him in the pit of his stomach. Tomcould feel his feet sink deep into the man's mid-section as he kickedout hard and sent him sprawling against the bulkhead. With a bellow ofrage, the hairy man picked himself up and charged back at Tom, who wasnow on his feet, braced to meet him.

  _The young cadet timed his move perfectly_]

  As the prisoners began to roar, Tom side-stepped and back-pedaledfrantically, trying to get out of the impossible situation. If he won,there would be questions for him to answer. Questions that would bedifficult and might betray his identity. But if he allowed Monkey towin, he might die right there on the deck. The man was blind with rageand would stop at nothing.

  The man rushed in again and, unable to back away, Tom felt the hairyarms close around him in the most powerful grip he had ever felt in hislife. Slowly, evenly, Monkey applied pressure. Tom thought his ribswould crack. His head began to swim. The faces around him that laughedand jeered suddenly began to spin around
him dizzily.

  Then, with the desperation of a man facing death, Tom began to pushoutward, his arms under Monkey's chin. The man tried to apply morepressure but the cadet fought him, forcing his head back farther andfarther. The prisoners were silent, watching the deadly battle. Then,gradually, Tom felt the hairy man's grip relaxing. With the last ounceof his strength he burst out of the encircling arms and staggered back.The ape man looked at him stupidly and then down at his arms as if theyhad betrayed him. With a roar, he came rushing in again. Tom sethimself, left foot forward, shoulders hunched, and when Monkey camewithin arm's length, he swung with all the strength he had left in hisbody. His fist landed on the point of Monkey's chin. There was adistinct sound of crushing bone and Monkey sank to the deck, out cold.Gasping for breath, Tom stood over the sprawled man and just looked athim. The crowd around him was staring at the fallen man in disbelief.Through the roaring in his head, Tom could hear their voices, "He brokeout of Monkey's grip!" "He broke the guy's jaw with one punch!"

  Tom turned blindly to the corner where he had been sitting and slumpedto the deck. Someone shoved a cup in his hands and he gulped itscontents blindly, hardly tasting the foul rocket juice or feeling itburning his throat.

  The cadet was sure now that he would be caught. Monkey had been apopular member of the crew and some of his friends were certain to eventhe score. But to Tom's surprise, there were no questions and a few ofthe men came over to pat him drunkenly on the back. A couple of themdragged the unconscious man out of the compartment and up to sick bay.The others soon forgot the fight and continued their merrymaking.

  Tom sat alone and silent in the corner, his strength returning slowly.He had faced his first obstacle and had won. But he knew that what layahead of him made the fight insignificant by comparison. He decided hisnext move would be to acquaint himself with the ship and, if possible,get a paralo-ray gun.

  As the men continued their drunken singing and yelling he mumbled anexcuse about soaking his fist in cold water and managed to escape fromthe crowded compartment.

  Outside in the passageway, the cadet began to figure out the plan of theship, first locating the power deck by its roaring purr. He climbed aladder to the next deck, walked slowly down the passageway toward whathe thought to be the control room, and leaned against the hatch. Heheard the soft tinkle of a radar signal and his heart skipped a beat. Hehad stumbled onto the astrogation and radar bridge. Wondering if heshould burst into the room and attempt to overpower the men on duty, orwait for a better chance later, he was suddenly startled by a sharpvoice in back of him.

  "You--spaceman!" Tom turned to stare right into the face of Bull Coxine!

  The big man looked at Tom with piercing eyes.

  "What's your name?" demanded Coxine.

  "Uh--uh--they call me the Space Kid!" he finally managed.

  "Space Kid, eh?" mused Coxine. "I don't remember seeing you on theRock."

  "They held me in the tower for a month trying to make me take thepsychograph rehabilitation. I got out when the blasting started."

  "What were you on the Rock for?" asked Coxine. "You're pretty young tobe sent to the Rock."

  Tom thought desperately of a crime he could have committed that wouldsend him to the prison asteroid. Suddenly he got an idea. He looked atCoxine and spoke in as harsh a voice as he could.

  "Listen," he snarled, "I just broke Monkey's jaw for treating me like akid. I hope you don't crowd me into fighting you by asking so manyquestions. Y'see I won't answer them and then you'll have to freeze me."Tom paused and tried to gauge Coxine's reaction. But he couldn't see athing in the cold staring eyes. "And," Tom continued, "if you freeze me,you'll lose a better man than most of the scum in your crew!"

  Coxine stepped forward and towered over the curly-haired cadet. When hespoke, his deep voice echoed in the deserted passageway.

  "What was your rating as spaceman before you hit the Rock?" asked thebig man.

  Tom's heart raced. If he could get to the control deck or the radarbridge, he could send his signal easily. But he realized quickly that ineither of these places he would be spotted almost immediately by Wallaceor Simms. He had to stay away from them and wait for a later chance.Tom's mind raced.

  "I was a gunner on a deep spacer," he drawled confidently. "I can takethe space tan off a crawler's nose at a hundred thousand yards withanything from a two-inch to a six-inch blaster."

  Coxine's eyes sharpened. "Where did you learn to use a six-incher?They're only on heavy cruisers of the Solar Guard!"

  Tom could have bitten his tongue off. He had slipped. He thoughtquickly. "I was an enlisted spaceman in the Solar Guard."

  "Why'd you get sent to the Rock?"

  "My officer was a smart-alec lieutenant just out of Space Academy. Wegot in a fight--" Tom didn't finish the sentence.

  "And you were kicked out, eh?"

  "No, sir," said Tom. "I hit him so hard--he never woke up again. I hadto blast out of there, but they caught me."

  "All right," said Coxine. "Report to the gunnery chief. Tell him I saidyou're second-in-command." The big man turned and walked away from thecadet without another word.

  Tom watched him disappear and smiled. He had faced two impossiblesituations, the fight with Monkey and now this meeting, and he had comeout on top in each. Perhaps he had a chance, after all.